An all-star panel of Internet academics, activists, and entrepreneurs gathered at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York today to launch Internet for Everyone, a campaign calling for a national broadband policy to bridge the "digital divide." The group—the members on hand today included such luminaries as Vint Cerf, Lawrence Lessig, Jonathan Zittrain, and Tim Wu—is urging political action to provide universal, affordable high-speed broadband in the United States.

Related Stories

* US is #4 on Network Readiness Index—despite broadband woes

* Where are the broadband price wars?

* Community Broadband Act would overturn bans on municipal broadband

* "Not tonight, honey, I'm on the Internet"

Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, introduced the initiative, saying it was "outrageous" that "the country that invented the Internet" ranked 15th in broadband penetration at last count (a ranking that has been disputed) and has failed to provide any broadband options for some 20 million Americans living in rural areas. "Closing the broadband digital divide," said Silver, "must be a national priority." According to Silver, the campaign would not support or oppose specific legislation, but instead would champion four core principles: Access (fat pipes in every home), choice (real competition between providers), openness (this appears to be a code word for some flavor of 'Net neutrality), and innovation (job creation and economic growth). As a first step, Silver announced that the group would hold a series of public fora to solicit ideas and encourage public involvement.

The press conference brought together some unlikely allies. "This is the first time in our history that we have tried to build fundamental infrastructure on the basis of a Neanderthal philosophy," announced Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, "which is that we don't need government to do it." Seated next to Lessig was David All, founder of the Republican fundraising site Slatecard—and normally a proponent of that "Neanderthal" philosophy. All later argued for wider broadband access as a means of fostering the next generation of tech entrepreneurs.

To read the article and view pictures from the event, click here [1].